With Friends Like These
by Devil Dog11723504
Summary: Four warriors of different armies find themselves thrown into Remnant without any warning. Can they look past their differences and form a alliance...unlikely. A money loving mute Ranger, a tactful Legion commander, a proud Knight and a not all there Fiend will be tested in this dangerous new place.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Meet the gang

AN: Ok so I've wanted to write my first fanfiction for a while now but I haven't had the balls but I was cleaning my room yesterday and the perfect idea hit me. 'What if four people who absolutely hated each other were dropped into remnant' so bam here we are. I hope you guys like it, I will answer any questions dropped in the review box and if you have any ideas throw them at me. This fic will have rwby elements so don't expect everything to be realistic or serous all the time. ENJOY.

Hoover Dam, a monument to humans need for war. A clash of opposing ideas and beliefs, each refusing to back down, each feeling they were right.

To east was the bull, an army comprised of slaves and conquered tribes. Caesar's Legion as it was called was a vast empire much like its predecessor who believed order was maintained through fear and shackles. The legionaries of the Legion were not unlike beasts, they swept through battlefield like a sea of ants not caring for their own lives. They were not however weak, their soldiers were among the most feared in the new world. They marched straight into the storm of bullets.

With them were the drug addicts and lowlifes of the fiends and great khans, unknowingly tricked by the bull to fight by their side. Amongst them were the worse kinds of people. Rapist and murderers alike found refuge in the two gangs. During battle they relied on performance boosting chems to give them the edge. They were nothing but cannon fodder to the Legion and were sent first to weaken the enemy.

Opposing this dark army was none other than the bear, born from the ashes of the old world the NCR or New California Republic was a beacon of hope in this unforgiving hell hole. They were a democratic government of free men and woman dedicated to liberty. Under the bear the west coast had seen a large growth in population and society. The NCR soldiers would protect their home not because they were told too like the slave army of the Legion but because they wanted too.

Once an enemy to the NCR, the Brotherhood of Steel had realized if the Legion were to take over that it would lead to the destruction of their entire order. The Brotherhood of Steel and the NCR would put away their differences for the time being and focus on the larger threat that was the Legion. The Brotherhood of Steel were hoarders of old world technology, their knights were hulking mountains of walking metal.

The Battle for Hover Dam starts now…

(Hoover Dam)

"Shit! There's no end to these guys!" The courier yelled to his companions. The Legion was hitting hard. For every hunk of flesh they gunned down eight more would take its place. The troopers were beginning to run low on ammo too. The courier wasn't big, probably not even 5'7, and he had the look of a city boy with his blonde hair. "Boone get somewhere high and get the jump on these guys!"

"My wife is dead "angst the Sniper while he did as he was told.

The courier put his head in his hands "Geez it's hard to get good help these days". A bullet impacted the sandbags he was hiding behind making him jump. 'If something doesn't change quick we are going to lose the dam! 'It was true; the crazy fuckers had yet to take break yet. The druggys they had sent first then their recruits and everything after that had been one big clusterfuck.

'Why would anyone want to control this piece of shit?' He asked himself. It didn't make a lot of sense why the Legion would want it seeing as they hated technology. The NCRs obsession made little sense either, the only large powered city was New Vegas and it was controlled by House. It felt like these guys went at it for the sole purpose of going at it. 'Do I smell daddy issues?'

He peaked over his spot to see the Legion pouring in from the other side. No matter how many you killed they wouldn't break and retreat. You could lop all of one's body parts off and he'd bite your ankles while screaming 'For the Legion!'

"For the Legion!" Like that.

The courier realized too late that the legionary wasn't armed at all. Strapped to him were blocks of C-4 and he was smiling like a mad man. The explosion disintegrated the fanatic and the troopers around him while knocking the courier through a pair of double doors.

A piece of metal sent flying had embedded itself halfway inside the Couriers armor combat armor causing quite a bit of discomfort. He had often wondered how the hell he had gotten here. A simple courier gets shot in the head and everybody trips balls.

He thought back to his days in good springs, at first it was really cool to tell everyone and even got him laid a few times. It was like he was something out of a comic. Then 'They' came he thought bitterly. No matter where he was or what he was doing they always seemed to find him and present the most ungodly tasks to him.

No matter though because it looked like this was it or at least if the legionnaire at the door had anything to say about it was. He advanced on the courier slowly, his gladius dripping with blood. Courier six couldn't say that he had a bad life seeing as shouldn't have had a life at all. But he had walked out of good springs alive and well where most others would be worm food. His last thoughts were simple 'Wonder if decapitation is anything like a headshot'

He heard a bolt pull back as someone chambered a round behind him and the legion soldiers head exploded in a colorful red mist. He wasn't even surprised at this point "Thanks Boone" he deadpanned

"My wife is dead" Called back the sniper.

Six slowly banged the back of his head against the cracked marble floor. 'Why couldn't fate pick another guy?' he thought 'Someone as crazy as the rest of them'

Another shadow fell over him but he didn't even care "Oh look who it is! I see your damn faces on ever poster from here to the coast but every time something big happens do they call their 'Veteran' Rangers in? NO! Hey Courier we got a job for you that's potentially life threatening!"

The ranger said nothing. Just continued to stare at him with those hollow red eyes. The veteran had multiple revolvers strapped to him and anti-material rife slung across his back.

"You know what I've got an idea!" Announced the Courier "How about you take this one! I'm sure taking an entire Legion camp should be nothing for you guys!"

Still nothing, but the ranger got down to eye level with Six.

"Are you afraid? You guys are just all talk." The ranger brought his hand up to six faces to which latter blinked. He rubbed his thumb, index and ring finger together. Six gave the ranger a quizzical look "I don't understand"

The ranger let out a noiseless sigh of frustration before re doubling his finger rubbing effort. Six was beginning to irritated as well as he glared at the ranger.

Then it clicked "You want me to pay you…" The ranger nodded "Are you serious right now" Another nod "You are out of your mind if you thin-" An explosion cut him off and NCR troopers screamed in pain:

"My leg!" one yelled

"Take it all" The Courier answered while he materialized every dime he had from his pip boy. The ranger seemed to glow with satisfaction as he gathered up all his loot. He stopped when he eyed a bottle cap necklace around six's neck. He gestured to it and the Courier glared at him before throwing it at him. The ranger took six's hand in his own and shook it to seal the deal. As he was turning to walk away something hit the back of his helmet "Take that piece of shit too!" the Courier screamed in frustration as he threw his pipboy.

Outside a lone fiend by the name of Psycho was killing everyone in sight. He was so strung out he didn't know who was enemy and who was ally. He smirked as he flipped over a pair of veteran rangers, shooting them as he passed over him 'BY GOD I'm SO FUCKING ELAGANT!'. A trooper tried to bayonet him only for Psycho to form a ball of light in his hand and shoot it at the soldier who quickly disenigrated. "DIE BITCHEZ"

"Should we shoot him…..?" Asked the Private to his comrade. In front of them a fiend who was obviously having an illusion was dry humping a concrete pillar.

"Hananananan" Purred Psycho

The other trooper looked on with disgust "I think we should leave"

"Agreed"

The ranger passed the weirded out troopers heading towards the legions base. He didn't spare the fiend a glance as he pulled out his sequoia and put a round right into Psychos back. The fiend fell over the side of the dam. What a shame he was really cute, kind of like a diseased puppy.

Seconds passed before his head popped back over the side "You didn't think it would be that easy did you?" he said eerily. He pulled himself over the side and followed the veteran ranger.

(Legates camp)

Before the legate was two centurions who had failed to meet his very high expectations. They didn't try to offer any excuses, like most Legion men they were completely loyal to Ceaser and would die without a complaint. Which is what they did as the two praetorians slit their throats.

"Is it so hard to beat these dogs back?" He boomed to all of his present officers. The Legate was getting tired of failures; he didn't allow it in his ranks. "Can none of you complete such a simple task?"

The monster of the east let his gaze fall on each of them, pleased when they would flinch. The Legate wasn't a leader he was a killer so he would often let others lead to test their meddle. Five had been put to the sword for their failure already.

One stepped forward. He was decked out in Lorica Segmentata and had a Scutum, dents and cuts marred both. His black hair was combed neatly and his blue eyes glinted in the dark tent "I will bring you victory"

The legate's brutish mass turned slowly to take in one of Ceaser's favored. He grinned savagely behind his mask at the young man "The price for failure is heavy" he said gesturing to the bodies.

"I will bring you victory" he repeated.

Lanuis was pleased with youths answer "Then do so" he ordered

Marcus pounded his fist against his chest in salute before walking out of the tent. This Legionary was different than the others. Where most partook in rape and pillaging Marcus only possessed a lust for blood. The conquer of twelve tribes and commander of the third Cohort.

He descended the stairs with grace that none would expect from a member of the Legion. His red caped billowed in the wind. His face was blank. This man wasn't something you would wish to behold.

The camp was calm while just across the river it was chaos. The Legion children were conditioned at a young age not to fear death. Marcus had been with them since he was five. While the other tribesmen's kids were crying and whining when forced to train he saw an opportunity to become something more than just a simple animal. Ceaser respected ambition.

He noticed that they had captured a small squad of Brotherhood knights and threw them in the slaves pin. Their armor was still in place because no one knew how to take it off. He stopped next to the thick fence right overtop one of the knights. He wasn't interested in the man himself per say but his armor. "Whether we win or lose profligate you will be crucified, image for a moment being nailed by your wrist to a cross. Envision the pain you will feel as gravity does its work. And it won't be over quick….no it'll take hours if not days for you to die." His voice wasn't deep like Lanuis but it was just as threatening "The 'Power Armor' You're wearing, teach me to use it"

The Knight had his helmet off and it was lying next to him to him in the sand. He was old, probably in his mid-thirties that was archaic in the wasteland. His red hair was greying and his green eyes were cold. A prominent scar went across from cheek to the other in a stretched out upside down v shape starting at the bridge of his nose.

"Think on it" advised the Marcus. He continued on his path not saying another word.

Finally he arrived at a set of tents "OPERAM!(Attention)" One of his centurions yelled. His men filed into four lines before saluting their commander. Marcus was proud of his men; he wouldn't trade them for a thousand praetorian. His ranks were among the best of the Legion and they were rewarded for their effort. Each soldier of the third lacked the laughable sports equipment and was dressed in plated metal like their commander.

He walked slowing through the rows taking in every one of their faces. He liked what he saw. "Vis sanguis?(Do you want blood)"

"Etiam domine(Yes sir)"

He smiled "Dixi tibi sanguine legionaries!(I said do you want blood legionaries)"

"Etiam domine! (Yes sir)" He stood infront of his soldiers and took off at a brisk jog without another word. His men followed in their tight columns after him. The ground seem to shake under their feet. They were invincible.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A beautiful world un-ravaged by war...lets fuck it up

AN: Not going to make any excuses for the huge chapter release delay. I simply lost the urge to write. Why? I just want feeling creative in anyway, wasn't even reading any fan-fictions. But that time of mild depression is over and I can promise you a monthly release at the very least. Sorry guys.

Kiri0952: I was aiming to be unique, also not to play favorites but Veteran Rangers are one of my favorite npcs ever.

Rustbucket11: Thanks!

Thepkrmgc: I will try my best not to make any rookie mistakes but as a new writer I most likely will miss a few things.

So true(Guest): Right? He's like a walking ball of depression that's only purpose is to make you sad and yet angry that you cant kill him and take his gun.

/

Define peace. Freedom from or the cessation of war or violence. Define war. A state of conflict between different nations or groups within a nation or a state. Define nation. A large aggregate of people united by common decent, history, culture or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory. And how is territory acquired? War. It all tied together very nicely.

And that is wh-CRASH.

The occupant of the vehicle could only scream in surprise as a figure sailed through her front window and into the backseat. Damn, had some pretty deep monologue going on there too. The flying car attacking assailant had just simply seemed to come out of no where, propelled by some unseen force. We were most likely dealing with a very experienced attacker of cars.

"Are you ok?!" screamed the woman as she desperately tried to unhook her seat-belt. Heart racing she finally unclasped the protector and turned her body around to more accurately gauge the others condition. She got her first good look of the blur that narrowly missed her. She realized fast the most noticeable thing about the figure's appearance was the lack of the figures appearance. There wasn't a single patch of skin to be found on the person, fully covered from head to toe they were with some sort of feature obscuring equipment, helmet, scarf, trench coat, the whole nine yards. The second was much more alarming more, they were armed in every meaning of the word.

He or she, we will call it a he for now, said nothing and made no such movement to prove that all that armor and clothes was home to nothing more then an empty husk. "Hello can you hear me?" she asked the immobile person while her heart threatened to give out at any moment. She repeated herself louder and hesitantly moved to touch them.

Again the cramped insides of the car was assaulted with the woman screaming when his hand suddenly wrapped around her wrist and pulled her back with him. Just to make sure the girl pissed herself today a two foot long blade cut through the car where the lady had been sitting.

With all his strength the veteran launched himself and the possibly soon to be heart attack victim against the back door, effectively throwing both of them out of the car. Rolling back onto his feet he quickly stood up and froze. Working cars, maintained structures, everyone was clean. Vegas really was as nice as the troopers said it was.

However he had no time to enjoy the popping of his Vegas cherry as he barely moved out of the way of charging bull that wished to see him strung on a cross. "RANGER! What did you do!" Screamed the legate in furry. The middle finger he received hardly helped matters, kind of hypocritical for him to get pissy when the ranger was the one thrown through a car. "No matter, Mars has seen it fit to reward me with deserving prey. I best show my gratitude!"

A blood curling war cry signaled the legate's second charge. The ranger analyzed the situation and chose the most appropriate course of action. The speed of veteran ranger's drawl was almost a legend to the people of the NCR. But never once did they get drunk and over embellish a ranger's running speed. Like a scavenger with a deathclaw on his heels he ran like a sumbitch. Firing while running, the bullets from his .357 riddled the legate's armor to find no purchase in the mans meaty flesh. His armor wasn't even the biggest problem either.

Something bigger was in order, in one motion he turned and flipped his shouldered anti-materiel rifle into his hand and took aim at the legion soldier. The .50 caliber round would go through one side of that shitty armor and right out the other side. Right after it gave the well dressed young man that had been scooped up as a shield another hole to piss from.

Of course that damn alien looking gun, transponder or whatever the hell it was called, would send him to a place full of unarmed civilians instead of microwaving Lanuis's insides. The courier sure liked to carry junk around...Junk

The ranger stood his ground in front of the hulking monster. His coat billowed in the wind, his glowing red eyes looked on with contempt and his hand lingered near his sequoia. The legate didn't slow down a bit, he ran with his blade held high to cleave the smaller man in two. Pedestrians of Vale could only watch in horror as the two mad men in their eyes faced off. The distance between them was rapidly closing but he didn't drawl. Grinning, the legate threw the tiny man he was holding to the side and lunged forward, more then eager to bathe himself in the blood of a veteran ranger.

'4,000 bent ten cans removed' The ranger believed Courier had a fetish and Lanius would dine in the shade today as the ncr dog blotted out the sun. He had no time to move or get out of the way and could only shield himself with his hands. Grunting with exertion he finally succumbed to the unprecedented makeshift ordnance strike. The cans piled up nicely into a large mound

'1 dinky dinosaur removed" Because you had to be sure.

Monster of the east, the backbone of the Legion military killed by hundred year old rusted cans collected by Courier for sexual purposes, or at least that's only thing the ranger could come up with. Surveying the area he couldn't help but feel the situation was a tad bit anti-climatic. With a noiseless sigh he turned to walk away.

He stopped. Wait, that suit Mr. dead guy's wearing, it looks custom made. Ain't very many places left that that pull of a forge like that. No doubt some kinksters can get off on role playing as the monster of the east, some real hardcore bdsm. We are talking at least thirty thousand caps. No this isn't right, looting the dead is wrong, no matter how much of a dick they were.

The ranger could only wonder where the fuck such a big man could hide under all the cans as he scrambled around on the pile. The crowd that had amassed during the 'fight' was getting bigger and more annoying by the second. He couldn't understand what they were so awed about, Mohave babies killed their first man before they learned to walk. So the stories of New Vegas rich snobs wasn't far from the truth. Well to be fair he did just kill the legate that deserved come recondition or better yet a reward!

'Hello people of New Vegas' he signed out with his hands 'It brings great pleasure to announce the NCR's victory at the dam. It was a hard fought battle' His head dropped making it appear he was worn out in an attempt to play on people's pity 'Many lives were lost, their lives however were not taken in vain. To honor their sacrifices and to show you care, please feel free to donate to NCR' to finish he held out the bottom of his coat to catch caps.

"Dude did you get any of that?" Someone asked their compatriot.

"Nah man. Maybe its code for sex."

When it was obvious he wasn't going to get payed for his 'noble sacrifice' his shoulders dropped and he let go of his coat. Stingy bastards they were. Least there was still that suit to sell, he just had to find right buyer. Should of just put right through that ungrateful shit, he would of lost the body armor but it might as well be useless with its weight. The real money maker was the helmet and he would be lying if he said he wouldn't scare the shit out of NCR troopers back at Mcarren with it. The Legion did their best to make it look scary.

And now that he was presently getting a good look at it up close he could say it was understandable to be afraid of such a thing. One hand dangled the helmet in front of him while the other held a gladius coated with fresh blood to his neck. Well shit...it was going to stain his scarf.

"Forged in the image of the god Mars" explained Marcus "But me and Lucius have a running joke that's it was just made to hide his ugly face. I understand if you don't think its funny, its more of an inside joke but its common decency to at least chuckle you know. Or maybe you don't know, profligates aren't known for their respectful ways"

Its kinda hard to communicate with someone when you're mute and your only source of language may be seen as an attempt to escape.

"Don't worry I saw your little show down here from up on top of that building over there along with some other...disturbing things. keep your hands above and away from your body so you can explain to me what you did and how"

'You can read sign language?'

"Do you believe me not an intelligent man?" Marcus could feel the smirk radiating off him as he shook his head yes "It wouldn't be wise to test me profligate" With one motion he dropped the helmet and upholstered the ranger's sequoia, turning it on one of the idiotic bystanders who decided sticking around was a good idea.

'Well what I did was kill your Legate, intelligent man'

"No that's not true. I'll give you credit for pinning half of the mans body down on the other side but that did little more then piss him off. No the kill was mine, its like he said. The price of failure is high"

'Don't care, his helmet is still mine'

The blade bit into his throat "Enough with your childish games. You will tell me what you know, and you will tell me now."

"Or" a voice concluded "You can both come with me and you can tell me everything you know" The wastelander's attention was drawn to a man who looked to young to match his white hair. He wore a green suit and walked with a cane. "As of right now its a request. However if you refuse" A poshly dressed woman appeared next to him with a riding crop in her hand "I will be forced to persuade you in the matter"

'The cavalry has arrived' signed the ranger 'I feel it in my best interest to warn you that your sentencing might turn out a little bit different if you kill a veteran ranger. Can you spell HANGING?'

He was too late. It would of saved both of their asses if the ranger would of just told him what he did. The chances of them getting out of here smoothly had just flew of the theoretical window.

'Let me go anytime you feel like it'

"Profligate, we are both invaders here"

It appalled him that the Legion has been having such problems with an enemy that couldn't figure something as trivial as this. With a growl he pulled him up from the ground and turned him the other direction. Hopefully he wouldn't gawk for ages.

"Do you understand now?" It took everything Marcus had not cut his throat open and ruin his chance of leaving this place "That 'weapon' you used against the Legate was no such thing. Whatever you did you need to do it again"

He didn't answer or move. Just stood there staring into the distance where buildings touched the sky, the sky itself filled with flying vehicles. No lucky 38 or Tops casinos. We weren't in the Mohave or even Nevada. No such a place existed in the ashes of the old world.

"So you can either take your chances with me whom you have a chance of surviving against once we leave this place or be at the mercy of this place's military, you asked me before if I could spell hanging. I implore you to come to a decision fast." The Legionary pushed the ranger away from him.

Fight one man who's kind he's killed hundreds of or fight an entire army of technology advanced soldiers. Answer was simple.

'How long can you hold them off' He didn't have the telewhatever on him. It dropped somewhere after buddy boy threw him. If he found that then he and...why did he have to take Mr. Skirt? Leave his ass here to have fun.

"There's just two of them, probably scouts" He answered "The fact they are challenging us with no actual weapons concerns me. I cant guarantee you any time frame"

Ozpin nodded sadly "I was hoping we could resolve this peacefully. Glynda I need them alive"

/

Never in all my life had I seen something so beautiful. To be more accurate it would be better to say I lost hope in the word. Years in the wasteland did that to you. But this sure as hell wasn't the wasteland. I slipped off my helmet to see it with my own eyes.

Living trees covered with red pedals floating down from their branches to settle on the ground, painting a completely red picture. The sky was a clear light blue with no overbearing sun like the Mohave. If this is what heaven looks like I wouldn't mind at all. I felt almost bad even to step on the pedals leaving noticeable tracks due to the armors weight. Unfortunately I still had to find out where I was. Not the easiest thing when there was land marks, difference in the scenery or the like. The only thing I could do was pick a direction and start walking.

I knew it was futile but I took a try anyway "This is Paladin Steele can anybody read me?" There was no surprise when no one answered. placing my helmet back on I activated my thermal to scan the forest for any heat readings. There was none, guess that means no asking for directions.

I ran my hand across the tree's as I past them, something that was trivial in the old days bringing great amazement from me.

Many times I wondered about the people who almost brought the end of the world. Engulfing the world in fire because they thought they had a right too, no doubt the leaders of the countries all had their own personnel vaults to hide in while they doomed civilization. And for what? Land that wouldn't be worth anything after it was over? Pride? How dare they leave us with such a scarred world.

That's why the Brotherhood existed. To keep such weapons and tech from the hands of the undeserving. Helping the NCR fight off the Legion was nothing more then self preservation. The Legion were idiots but the NCR wanted to start to cycle all over again, at the very least the Legion understood that.

I dropped suddenly to the ground while reaching for my laser rifle only to remember it was taken.

"All I'm saying is if he didn't give us so much homework then maybe we could get it done faster" A blonder with very long hair with some sort of uniform complained.

A much smaller, shorter haired girl dressed similarly answered her "Yang your argument doesn't make any sense. You just sound lazy"

I observed three girls in all, the third was dressed just the same with white hair in a high ponytail. All three of them were equally flashy and armed except the blond 'Yang'. Weapons meant possible danger, that meant this was no heaven.

They took no precautions to be quiet and nothing in their carefree stances made them look like they were on guard. A patrol maybe? I should stay out of sight and follow them to get an idea of where I am. Shouldn't be too hard.

"Where's Blake by the way?" Asked Yang.

Rolling to the side I barely missed the blade meant for my sternum. Scrambling, I was almost unprepared for the second attack as the shadow launched towards me. I fainted a dodge to the right but instead I dropped low and went to take their feet from under them. Their foot touched down on my armored shoulder and leaped off me like a spring board.

It was fast, damn fast. Whenever I seamed to catch it in my eye it turned out be just a fading image. I was more thankful for my armor then I had ever been before, I might not have my rifle but there's no way they'll even put a dent in my power armor with nothing but a blade.

'Or blades' I noted the other girls making there way towards me with there weapons ready. Fighting wasn't anything new to me but there was something that really slapped me in the face. It did horrible things to ones masculinity to see such a small girl wield such a larg- no large didn't do it justice. The short haired girl carried with her the equivalent of a light pole with a scythe blade on the top.

So fate would see me pitted against a couple of girls with overly large knives. No thanks, I've seen enough blood today. "Stop!" I yelled with both hands up. It was a very good sign indeed when they did just that.

That didn't mean they put down their weapons, I understood that feeling very well. They slowly spaced out to surround me making sure to keep their distance. I finally got a look at my attacker in a tree to my right. A girl with a bow wearing the same uniform as the rest.

Surprisingly the leader turned out to be the smallest of them all. The one with the man cleaver stepped forward "Who are you?"

"Not your enemy" I replied

"We will be the ones to decide that!" Shot back rapier girl.

Shouting isn't the key to a peaceful solution. Luckily the leader ignored her "Why are you in Forever falls? This place isn't exactly open to the public."

"I'm just the same as you, I don't know how I got here nor have I ever heard of Emerald forest. Last thing I remember is a ranger breaking me out of a Legion camp. One second I was there and the next second I was here"

They shared a confused look with each other. I specifically said those things just to gauge there reaction, it wasn't one I liked.

"We can't believe anything he's saying Ruby. He's clearly lying" I was starting to not to like that one.

Still this Ruby seemed to be level headed "I'm not sure what you're talking about but we need to take you to Beacon. Ozpin will know what to do"

"I'm sorry but I refuse to be taken prisoner to a place I've never heard of"

Then with the innocence that was lost in the wasteland she holstered her weapon, which was quite a show in its self, and moved until she was standing right in front of me. Putting herself in arms reach of a powered armored individual that could crush her like a soft fruit. "Not as a prisoner. We just cant leave you in this place, it can be dangerous." She said with bravado. I couldn't help but smile, she thought I need protecting. "So please if you really aren't our enemy then walk with us back and speak with Ozpin. I promise you that we arent bad people...Weiss is snobby but she's good at heart." She signaled the others to drop their guard to which they did slowly. Defiantly a sign of good faith.

Wasn't like I had a choice anyway, wondering around like a headless chicken would only go so far. With a low sigh I answered in a voice that I hoped sounded friendly "Lead the way little lady"

And that was how I, a thirty five year old Brotherhood paladin was being led around or 'escorted' by a couple teenage girls. Talk about out of my comfort zone, hopefully this Beacon proves to be better then most of the wasteland groups I'm familiar with. And be hasty about it, the small girl has been firing off questions in a way I thought impossible.

AN: And that's it. I purposely didn't put the Legion camp raid scene in YET for reasons. The next chapter is actually a third of way already typed up so it'll be out in a few days. Until then my readers!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Why aren't they dying!? Why are they dying?!

AN: Once everyone gets together there wont be hardly as many pov switches as there is now. To answer a pm I got yesterday (This AN was written weeks ago) for everyone, no the only person who can understand the ranger is Marcus, if everyone suddenly knew sign language it would really be weird. As to why he knows it, that will be explained later. Imagine for a moment having your greatest enemy as your interpreter.

The enemies shared a glance before they took flight. The bull charging forward with his shield held infront of him and the bear shooting to the right.

"Glynda please endeavor to be gentle" Reminded Ozpin, sipping his coffee while he watched. Today was supposed to be an easy day. Go to the only store in Vale that sells his favorite coffee, buy enough to last him a few months and maybe even pester Glynda a little. 'Now' He spared a glance to his quarter of a sip left 'I'm out of coffee and patience'. That said, not even he could justify what he had just seen. Seeing was believing and he had just witnessed two men seemingly come from nothing; he only saw the two so he couldn't say much about the third. It was also clear that these men were not allies, yet they saw it better to form a temporary truce then come simply come with them. Interesting.

Marcus kicked up the legates forgotten weapon in his hand to throw it at the blonde woman like a spear. It was unproportional and not made to be throw but it did the job just fine. Or it would of just fine if not for the simple wave of the witches hand seemed to give the weapon a mind of its own. The blade sailed through the wind then halted only to turn back to thrower.

"What sorcery...?" How is such a thing possible? Can she do it with larger objects? Or worse she could do it with him? A fearsome weapon indeed. Could such a weapon could be replicated? He would find out before they left. Coming here might turn out to be more useful then he once thought. His amazement at the subject left him little time to defend himself.

The blade of the east had little trouble penetrating the painted riot shield and partially stabbing into the skin of his arm. So no more throwing things, that would make things much more difficult. As a member of the Legion he was trained to be a close range fighter since he was a child. If she could just sling objects at him from a relatively safe distance then getting close to her would be a problem. Thinking quick, he pulled out the ranger's stolen sequoia. He offered a small prayer to the gods that she couldn't possess bullets.

Unaccustomed to using revolvers made the first shot veer way off to the side, giving Glynda enough to prepare for next volley of shots. She dodged each one effortlessly gaining the soldiers ire. With a roar he dashed towards her form ignoring the hits he was taking from flying objects.

The ranger, we'll call it a he again please don't peg us as sexists, wasn't having any better luck. Finding the trans-cantremembertherest was turning out to be a ghost hunt. Ghost as in can't see it, not ghost as in the ghost people of Sierra Madre, yes that clarification was completely necessary.

It wasn't inside the car nor beside it somewhere on the street. Wasn't in his left hand, happens to everyone, and he didn't see it anywhere near pre-thrown areas. 'Maybe its one of those things you can never find while your looking for it' he mused. With that thought in mind he took a deep breath and ventured aimlessly.

Crunch

He froze on the spot. It was a bug a really big bug, that's all it was. Some damn radroach got wished away to this place with them and conveniently placed itself under her boot. All was good. Yes all was good. So there was no reason to look down right? That would nullify the effects of aimless searching. Just continue on 'not searching'.

"That didn't sound good" Observed younger man with old man hair. He was right, squashing radroaches really wasn't pleasing to the ears. It sounded like despair, misery, self-loathing, denial, the list goes on. "Looks really important too" Says the man who's never seen a radroach. "The other one doesn't seem to be doing very well" Sparing a glance to the side she saw Marcus prepare to block Glynda's next attack, however the commander's shield couldn't do much to stop a flying car.

Glynda: 1

Wastelanders: 0

With a thud he landed at the feet of the ranger. He really was no match for the sassy which, she kept him on the defense the entire time all while holding back. It didn't do good things for the man's ego. Suffice to say he just wanted to leave. He couldn't give a damn how the woman did such things now.

While in a daze he stood up patting dirt off himself and his armor, he then turned his attention to his greatest enemy only to witness them doing nothing. Once again he resisted the urge to pit the metal of his blade to the flesh of the ranger, his denarius were on the blade. When his vision plummeted downward so did his resistance.

"I think I fucked up" signed the ranger. That would be all he made out before being pushed roughly against the nearest wall with a blade at his throat, legs slightly suspended in the air.

"You imbecile!" Snarled Marcus as he pressed the blade harder. "How does someone just casually break our only way back?! Are you a complete idiot?! I would have been better off just killing you in the beginning! But don't worry, I plan to rectify that mistake right now!" The hammer being pulled back on one the many six shooters the rangers possessed stopped him. A formal way in the ncr to tell someone to back the fuck up.

The headmaster watched the exchange with his assistant next to him. He processed all of the information that he had taken in thus far but couldn't come up with many accredited conclusions that made sense. Asking them directly seemed to be only way to get any solid answers. "Glynda"

Before the two could kill each other the ranger noticed a flash of light bearing down on them. Probably wouldn't be in their best interest to be hit by such a thing. He planted both feet on Marcus's chest and kicked off of him, putting both of them away from the potentially game ender. The electrical charged bolt of lightning struck the ground where moments before their feet had been planted, much to the dismay of the headmaster. It would have made everything much easier to incapacitate them at the same time.

It came as a shock to the wastelands but didn't faze them long as they had already seen what she was capable of. Getting on his feet he turned to his temporary partner 'If it can be broke then it can be fixed' The ranger gave Marcus an incredulous look behind the mask "Whining about our situation isn't going make it any better. Now-" he stopped to hide behind a wall connected to an alleyway to get away from a second bolt "We need to leave, obviously if we wait any longer others will show up."

He returned the helmets glare "Who's going fix it, you? Sorry if I'm not convinced of your technical abilities"

"Your decision" The veteran took off down the alleyway.

Ozpin watched as the one with the trench coat turned and ran. He wasn't worried. It had been more then twenty minutes since he made the call to Beacon. Teams CDRL and JNPR should of arrived by bullhead by now and spread out along the south side. If their fighting style was anything like his 'friend' then the teams shouldn't have too much of a problem beating him.

Speaking of which, this battle would seem is finally coming to an end. What poor luck to be Glynda's opponent, if only they had just come peacefully. However it did allow Ozpin to observe his fighting style. He had yet to land a single blow on the teacher but that wasn't due to skill. He could very well see they were dealing with a seasoned fighter.

The legionnaire slumped to the ground after substantiating a direct hit to the chest from lighting. His hands didn't even have the strength to grip his gladius properly and it dropped uselessly onto the ground with a clink.

Beaten by a woman? Was their no greater shame? If words were to make it back he would lose the respect he had so rightfully earned from the Legion. With that brute of a legate out of the picture his spot was vacant. There was only one man who could fill it. To lose here would to be to throw away everything he had worked for. He would not allow it.

Their objective is capture was to capture him, he would use that against them. His body was being treacherous to its master, refusing to move as it was being commanded. His hands slowly and shakily reached to reclaim his lost weapon.

Glynda notice this behavior and swiftly moved to stop him. But it was too late. She wasn't affected much, he was already on his last legs. This was nothing but stupid pride acting now. In just a few more moments he would be dealt with and she could chase after the sec-

He plunged the blade into one of the gaps in his plate armor while smiling cruelly. There was no pain, contrary to common belief it usually never did. At first. The adrenaline in his body was slowing dissipating however, replacing it was dull throbbing pain. As his body became more aware so did his pain receptors. After a brief moment all he could feel was the cold steal inside his body. He yanked it from his body and slumped forward.

The hunters could barley contain their surprise. It took a few moments to process what they had witnessed. Glynda shared a look with Ozpin, he closed his eyes for a moment to recollect himself. To choose death over peaceful negotiations, what a selfish man. "I'll call for a medical team. Just try to slow the bleeding" She hurriedly did so.

She moved to roll him over when he attack, thrusting the blade into her abdomen. They had fallen for his coy trap. Many years of fighting had taught Marcus the less serious stab wound locations. The pain was still immense but manageable. With her out of the picture all that was left was the non-combatant.

If only it were that easy. No blood greeted the woman's impalement, instead he was subjugated bolts of electricity coursing through his body.

Not far away from this scene the ranger was transversiing the many alleyways of Vale city, unbeknownst that he was being hunted by two different entities. All that was on his mind was getting to a safe place so he could let the pip boy repair the damaged equipment. How it worked he did not know, only thing he knew was that anything could be repaired by using something somewhat similar to it. The courier was fool for giving such a piece of technology away. Ceaser's bitch was probably done for by now so he had to keep moving less their attackers catch up.

/

These girls were clueless. They had me at an advantage before but now with their weapons holstered and their close proximity to me would make them easy picking with a powered armored equipped individual. Which led me to believe that you didn't have to worry about every passerby stabbing you in the back. This place might not be so bad...if not for that white one.

"Does that really pass as armor where you come from? Looks like it was thrown together using household appliances. A weak city boy wanting to play hunter for a day? That would certainly explain your lack of weapons." Technicality my entire body is a weapon. It was like her sole existence revolved around putting people down. I wasn't about to open my mouth though less I make it worse. Now that's a thought, could it even get any worse?

I've kept my mouth shut, only answering basic questions, I instead listened to their chatter. Absorbing information like a sponge. Funny thing is I've learned the most from the brat or Weiss as they call her. Her long rants insulting my equipment, knowledge provided much information about this place. I was still missing key things, like what the quiet one used to move so fast.

We were heading their school, couldn't be too bad if they taking strides to educate children, to meet with their headmaster. Just a checkup of sorts. I didn't have any other choice but to go with them, wherever this was the Brotherhood had no knowledge of such a place.

"Your armor does look weird" Added Ruby, she remembered her partners previous badmouthing and hastily corrected herself "Not so much in a bad what but in an out of place kind of way"

"Hm"

"I mean it looks cool but its just...help me out here guys" She begged her teammates with hopeful eyes not realizing I wasn't offend.

"Trash" Supplied Weiss.

"Not easy on the eyes?" Observed Blondie. The quiet one didn't answer. I like quiet one. "Whats the nozzle on the back?"

Power armor was made with functionality in mind, not appearances. Whoever had the idea was a genius. Wearing the suit made you feel like tank on legs, or so I assumed having never actually seen a working tank. "That's not something I'm allowed to share with you"

"Why is that?" She asked distrustfully. They were absolutely relentless with these questions, somebody should give them a job extracting information from prisoners. No matter how hard they try though I would give them nothing. The less they knew about my suit the better.

"Orders" Shit poor choice.

Ruby turned to me "Orders? Are you some kind of soldier?"

"Something like that"

With a huff princess began to speak "That's a lie, my father had me educated on the kingdom's armies when I started studying to become a huntress. So why don't you tell us who you really are"

Not even the commonwealth is this bad. "A word to the wise, next time you want to ensure things go peacefully leave her at home" Usually responding in spite was beneath me but she had done a great job at pressing my buttons.

"You get use to it" Ruby awkwardly scratched the back of her neck.

I highly doubt that. As a paladin I didn't have to get use to anything, my word was most usually law. Especially with few paladins left in the Mohave; if you were to count the standing elder I would be the fourth highest ranking member in the Mohave. How happy the Legion would be if they knew that when they captured me. Now that I think about it maybe I should be grateful that I'm here, unless they have murdering slaver faction lying around somewhere then it was a lot better then being one their prisoners.

We had been walking for a little over twenty minutes and large structure was finally coming into view despite the trees hindering most of my view. Even other students could be seen waltzing about. I had to stifle a laugh at some of the armor some of them donned. My armor was trash? What about Mr. heavy ancient armor here, cant see it protecting from anything more then melee weapons. Speaking of which, not a lot of them even possessed long range weapons. A few noticed my presence but most of them went about their work unaware of me.

"Class, if I could have your attention for one moment" My attention was brought to a large man with a gun that was by all means useless in this day and age. "Due to unforeseen circumstances the headmaster has ordered all of today's classes be canceled and you're to return to your dorms. I'm sure most of you are mortified that you wont be able to hear how I killed a nevermore with the lent in my pocket, a tragedy indeed." Before he finished his sentence the children were already gone. "Would you look at them, they look so down, poor things."

He was without a doubt one of the teachers, something that gave me a little more faith in this school. He wasn't at all intimidating and didn't seem to be a bad person.

"Mr. Port" Acknowledged Ruby as we came up to him.

The big man now known as Port turned around with what I would describe as a jolly expression to speak to his student "Why if it isn't my youngest student, I'm sure you of all people must be flabbergasted by the news. No one seems to enjoy my tails of heroism more then you do."

"Yeah..." She trailed off "There's something else I needed to talk to you about?"

"I am guessing it has something to do with this strange man of steel? I've already informed Ozpin" Not as ignorant as he lets on. This was one to be weary of "You four carry on and...let me deal with this"

That was fast. The girls seemed to be stunned by the sudden dismissal as well but didn't want to argue with their superior. "But I haven't even told yo-"

"Leave Ms. Rose" Another voice called behind. He wore a pair of spectacles with a lab coat and...green hair "We've already seen every from the camera feeds. Do not worry, this isn't a confrontation. He seems much more cooperate then the others"

Others?

"I don't want any trouble" I defended

"Neither do we, but we do need answers" Informed the scientist "Let's talk"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Peaceful negotiations anyone?

AN: Props to history dorks who recognize the ww2 pacific theater reference.

Guest p: That is one weird thing to point out...but I applaud you for being creative.

/

"The paramedics say he'll be fine" Informed Glynda "Three days if he has an aura or three weeks if he doesn't"

The Headmaster listened with his full attention "Make sure to notify the police chief of the situation, tell him we will need a few of his officers to watch after our hostile friend until we can make room to secure him at Beacon" He wanted him close by for multiple questioning "What's the status on the man that our professors apprehended?"

"He's extremely cooperative, as we speak we have him under full surveillance in an empty classroom."

"Very good, let's not keep the man waiting, we don't actually have the right to hold him. I'll leave the straggler to team CFVY, they are more then capable enough to handle him. Have a bullhead on standby to pick them up after they've captured the run away." Ordered Ozpin very calmly.

"How are you even sure that man is related to these three?" She asked, counting the dead man along with the other two.

"The timing and the oddity of the man's armor is far too much to be a mere coincidence. With luck he will prove to be my source of information on the others, judging by their reactions I doubt we will get much from them"

/

The alleyway was actually 'alleyways' as it didn't just lead behind the building to the other street. No, this bad boy was longer then most wasteland settlements and branched off to many other numerous pathways. It wasn't as dirty as one might expect either, on the contrary it was actually quite clean. The ranger wandered if the whole city was like this, just from what he had seen it did appear to be pretty vast. The buildings that made up this intricate backward were certainty colossal. Everything about this place was huge, enough that he was running out of synonyms of the word 'big', sure he could use the same words more then once but that would make him look illiterate and no one wants that.

He also noted that now was probably not best time to be worrying about such issues, that legion asshole was probably groveling like a little bitch by now which meant they were on his tail now. Well good luck with that, momma always said he was the fastest runner around. Or at least she would of if she hadn't lost him in a game of poker. Most people would be extremely off put by this, however; the entree amount was two-fifty, meaning even as a baby he was still worth two hundred and fifty dollars. How many people can claim that kind of thing? Not many. Admittedly, it was pretty shitty of his mother to bet and loose him like that but it wasn't all that bad, he got to be raised by a decently rich family, well known caravaners actually...Ok so maybe it was more like being a source of free labor but hey at least he got the edjumacation he needed. He realized after a few moments of contemplation that he was letting this thought process go on for way to long, needles daydreaming should only have a shelf life of about thirty seconds.

It was becoming plaintively clear why no one ever let him join in on the plan making, it hurt sometimes when they put a sign outside of the door to the command tent that read 'no muties allowed' the green monster that they drew to depict him was pretty insulting as well(still doesn't realize they weren't talking about him). He was a do it kind of guy. Need something killed? No problem. Need something blown up? No problem. Need a good looking opponent in a game of chess? He had the first half of it covered, humor was key to keeping your spirit up this kinds of situations.

From his perspective there wasn't very many options, the first being of which included him continuing running around the city that he knew nothing about in hopes of escape. Option two included the attempted bludgeoning of his pursuers, from what he gathered by watching the blonde woman fight this could prove to be fatal. Option three was surrender, short and simple. Unfortunately fighting the Legion for years on end had instilled in his mind that surrender was babaBAD. Knowing it was a mental thing the ranger tried to swap out the words 'I surrender' with 'I cease resistance' to fool himself, it didn't work. That only left...momma always sai- not starting that again.

He suddenly stopped what he was doing and hid behind neatly maintained garbage can. The noise was faint and the group was trying there best to be as quiet as possible, too bad his helmet allowed him to hear a pin drop in an opposite room; there were four distinct footfalls, two of them definitely belonging to men while the other half was defiantly more feminine gait. They were coming from a pathway that branched off the one he was in, and even more alarmingly they were getting closer. This was probably why he hadn't sensed any stragglers giving him chase, they must of sent another unit around to push him out of the overly complex back ways.

After a few seconds of listening with baited breath the footsteps entered the alleyway the ranger was presently calling home. While still focusing on their movement he, with adept hand, grasped the handle of a .357 strapped to his breast plate, the cold hard wood giving him mild comfort. They were less then thirty feet from him now and they weren't showing any indications of changing course, it would appear that he was going to have to use force, excessive force. This was the best part about being a ranger.

A curse flew from his mouth, or it would of if he wasn't mute, when the dumpster he was taking cover behind violently shook as someone leapt on top of it of it. He was instantly prepared to demonstrate the skill of an NCR veteran ranger to these newcomers when a shadowed passed over top of him, if he had blinked he would of missed it and could of disputed that he was crazy. Unfortunately he had seen it and now was forced to question his sanity. Court was in session, the plaintive, reason, was suing the defendant, his brain, for slandering his good name. The defendant has the stand.

"Your honor" A smart looking version of himself, completely the same except he had a pair of spectacles over his red tinted lenses, started "I would like to say in my defense that I do not actually posses the ability to see and that the eyes are responsible for this mishap"

"Objection!" Yelled a stern looking version of himself "When light strikes either the rods or the cones of the retina, it's converted into an electrical signal that is relayed to you via optic nerve. It's YOUR job to translate the signals into images!" There voices both sounded like a distorted humans, gender not reconizable.

"Ok ok, maybe I messed up. But is such a small thing really warrant all this?" Asked his brain.

"Objection!" Interrupted Reason again "You perceived a high school student making gravity her bitch to jump over three stories!" Reason would be held for contempt for his use of vulgarity.

The battle raged on in his mind as he questioned what it was he just saw, well Remnant wasn't going to give him time to recover as another teenager mimicked the first's actions, then another and another. All of them making Isaac Newton look like an asshole, and him not as special as he once thought himself.

With a soundless sigh, he noted at least they they were gone now. With a swift motion of his hand the revolver was re-holstered back into his respective leather slot, so they can jump like mutated basketball players, big deal. When it all came down to it, their flashy little acrobatics wouldn't save them from a bullet in their skull. With the ghost clear he stood up and rounded the dumpster.

Crunch.

Him and stepping on things today. The ranger spared a glance at his feet where, when he moved his foot, uncovered a used psycho injector. He stared stupidly at the contraption before noticing there was three more. Another look to where the kids had disappeared and he summarized that it was apparently some pretty potent shit.

Luckily not all was bad, with this scouting party already passing through his area he shouldn't have to worry about hostiles for a while. Time to see what this baby can do, he thought while pulling the pip-boy up to his face. It really was nice of ole Courier six to to give him such a gift, with this wonderful device he could check his status, check the time, gauge radiation levels, store pretty much anything(Still wasn't sure how that one worked), and apparently fix about anything. Sounds pretty great right?

Wrong. The basic functions were easy to understand but others not so much, in the rangers defense, he's only had about thirty minutes to tinker with it thus far. Scrolling to the weapons section he highlighted the transportation and clicked repair, from what he understood this function only worked if you had another of the item you were trying to repair or something fairly similar (Want sure how that one worked either). The Courier had no doubt collected a museum of weapons and armor so finding a match shouldn't be that hard. With the mass arrangement of plasma and laser weapons it should have been a breeze.

'Repair' it read with only one possible match. He stared long and hard at the pipboy's green screen, a stare comparable to a deathclaw looking at his delicious human meal...except the human was covered in shit. The ranger was a young man(or woman?) not even at the age of twenty-seven yet, a disorderly young age to be a veteran ranger, a prodigy of sorts. Rules were still rules though and one could only rightfully receive a ranger sequoia after serving faithfully for twenty-years, he was only halfway there. Yes he did possess the said godly weapon, but under different means. Yet even if the weapon was not truly his the sentimental attachment was defiantly there, also it was pretty badass to carry around a weapon half the size of your arm. Now to the current predicament, of all the weapons he possessed the pipboy somehow found that one the closest match? To leave this city and go back to California all he had to do was sacrifice his precious 45-70...

Excessive force it was. Or better yet, he scrolled over a stealth boy, calculated espionage. Within just a moment his body cloaked into nothingness, leaving him to do whatever the hell he wanted. There was absolutely no way he was going to give up his pride and glory.

It wasn't long before he finally cleared the dark alleyways and made into the streets once again. This time without the being attacked by some form of enemy, let it be a certain hulking legate or a small but not so frail sassy blonde woman, he could finally take the chance to take in the city. Most would find it jaw dropping beautiful, a soldier of a much smaller and less technological advanced country however; the ranger viewed it as the gateway to hell. There might of even a split second of questioning whether he was playing for the right team.

Properly maintained skyscrapers broke the border of his vision and disappeared farther then he could see, the smaller building's that weren't blocked out by these monsters were just as equally impressive with there brand new feel. The roads were paved nicely but he couldn't spot a car to save his life. The citizens of this were shiny clean, their clothes pristine with bright colors that no ncr civy would get caught dead wearing, wear as the people of the ncr dressed practicality these people looked like a belonged in a pre-war environment.

He stepped out onto the sidewalk, taking care not to run into anyone. Just standing there made him realize that he didn't actually have a clue what to do at this point. The ole thousand year question of left or right? Most right handers would take the side of their likeness and visa versa for lefters but the ranger didn't have that kind of privilege as he was ambidextrous, stupid one handers had it easy.

A thump behind him had him turning on his heels to see one of the kids that were tracking him, a young man probably at the age of no more then eighteen, dark skin with dark orange hair and shirt over top a black pair of pants. His choice of weapons were obvious if the gauntlets on each arm were anything to go by. The strangest feature yet was his eyes, pure white.

The ranger couldn't give a fuck. Being invisible was awesome but it sure took the fun out of things sometimes. With that he finally decided to go left until he reached the end of the city, if there was an end to this place. The NCR's finest made it a total of five steps before he collapsed on ground out of laziness. Without the motivation of a pay check, and that extra hazard pay, it didn't real appeal to the veteran for him to walk thousands of miles, hoping to find some sort of NCR presence. Bullying a bunch of psycho hyped druggy teenagers for their weapons sounded much better in comparison. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long to find a match for the transportalponder.

Sluggishly, he got back on his feet to face the kid, who on his part was looking in the ranger's direction with an amused expression. For a moment the veteran wondered if he was blind and gifted with super hearing, ultimately he ruled that out as far to cliché.

'Sorry buddy' apologetically thought the ranger 'I'll aim for the leg' he pulled out the smallest caliber he had in his inventory, a .22, and took aim at the boy's left leg. His finger curled around the trigger to let off a round when...

/

Psycho's psycho injections were finally starting to kick in, making the world look more like his own personnel playground. He had climbed on the roof to get a better view of the are so he could find that ranger bastard, not even seeming to notice the change in location. His quest for vengeance would be temporarily short lived though as he had received a message from god.

"I understand now!" He shouted at the sun with tears in his eyes "Forgiveness is the answer!" but god wasn't done with him yet "No way...you want me to come to you? I am not worthy of such praise!" With that he began to strip off his clothes.

(I believe I can fly!)

The fiend took off in a graceful sprint towards the son, anxious to be with his lord.

(I believe I can touch the sky!)

He jumped the roof of the building with his arms out stretched behind him preparing to take flight.

/

Fox could only watch with mild amusement as the poorly cloaked figure thought he was sneaky. Acting as if his own presence was nothing more then a bother. He even let out a rare grin when the person dropped on the ground and rolled around like a child who hadn't got there way.

The smile disappeared when the shape of a gun surfaced, a very small gun at that. He prepared to fight but the 'battle' was already over. A man as bare as the day he was born used his own body as a kinetic weapon to crush the offending combatant, knocking both of their lights out. Fox himself wasn't really sure who was the real offender here.

His team member's arrived shortly after, he had called for them moments earlier before the stranger had gone invisible. Velvet, easily the most bashful member of the team, turned red at the sight of the two intertwined.

His partner and the leader of team CFVY made her way to the from with an aggravated look on her face "It's way to early to deal with this crap" she sighed while she pinched the bridge of her nose, without missing a beat she began to give out orders "Velvet go pick up something at a nerby store to put our streaker friend here, Yaty call it in, fox come here"

Unceremoniously she flipped the naked man off the armored individual, making sure to put him on his stomach to hide his shame from the world. Immediately Fox made sure that they were both really down for the count before making to remove all weapons, there was a lot of them.

"His armor is strange, looks like its seen a lot of action" Coco observed as she handcuffed the armored one "LAPD RIOT, think he's part of a bigger group?" Fox didn't answer "Ah Fox, my little socially awkward butterfly. Let's go ahead and detain the other too, he's nothing but suspicious. Ozpin will understand"

A shadow fell upon the both of them "A bullhead is on the way" Said a surprisingly tame voice of the giant. Most people believed him just to be a big dumb oaf only capable of using force, his teammates knew that was the complete opposite. None were more gently the Yatsuhashi, nonetheless he did enjoy a good fight but only against Grimm, he took no pleasure in fighting humans or faunas.

"Good, let's be quick about it. I don't feel like being questioned by the police, my day has already been wasted as it is is." She spared a look of disappointment at their mission objective "I was at least hoping he would put up a good fight." recognition dawned her features "That reminds me, Fox why did you take out both of them?"

"I didn't" was his short answer "They took each other out"

"I'm done playing detective. We'll just let Ozpin settle this out"

/

My awakening was peaceful, unlike the times when I woke up to the sounds of a Legion ambush or my fellow rangers fucking with me, assholes. Nope none of that, I was sitting upright in a comfy feeling chair, my only displeasure was a slight vertigo feeling. I blinked a few times to get myself more aware, without moving my head I scanned the compartment with my eyes.

Directly in front of me was a giant of a man, he was slightly hunched over and was running a sharpening stone over his ridiculously long blade. Passed him I could see a cockpit of sorts, a vertibird maybe? I felt a slight discomfort in my hands and slowly pulled them apart to test my theory, my hands were bound in front of me, amateurs. I must have had one crazy night. I turned my gaze to my right to see someone very familiar, white eyes dude.

It suddenly all came back to me, the poorly written fanfiction like scenario on how I got here and the my escape through the alleyways. After that I was about to pop one in the kid's leg and then that's it, memory over. Someone must of suck up behind me, which begs to question: how did they see me?

Before I could continue my covert observations someone blocked my view, a girl with bunny ears. Her hair was brown and went halfway down her side, under what I guessed passed as armor around here she wore a skin tight black suit. Yep nothing really out of the ordinary here, nothing at all.

"Court is now in session after recess" Son of a bitch "We would ask that reason refrain from using using curse words or this court will be adjourned" The judge explained "The defendant once again has the stand"

"Your honor, I would like to show the court some pictures I have with me if you would give me permission"

"Proceed"

"Thank you" He ruffled through some folder's on his stand before pulling out a handful of pictures.

Reason saw what they contained and blushed "Objection, your honor those have no place in the current investigation!"

"Overruled, continue"

His brain held up the pictures for everyone to see. On the fifth of October, 4:23pm our body ingested this" The pictures contained some piece of week old meat on the ground "Did we know what it was made of? No. Did we know where it came from? No. Did we even know if it was safe to eat? Absolutely not." Everyone present released horrified breaths "Now I ask, when the body was partaking in this, where was reason?" The said intuition shuffled on his feet awkwardly "That's all I have to say"

Yep I'm defiantly going crazy because those were without a doubt genuine rabbit ears, a creature that I had enjoyed many times. Which made me wonder if eating her would be considered cannibalism. It was defiantly the weirdest mutation I had ever seen, even topped the guy with six nipples.

The girl was feeling me up for either weapons or clues to who I was, did they even know of the NCR? God I hope not. She pulled a lighter out of my pocket and rolled it around in her hands before deciding it was useless and stuffing it inside a bag. My beloved wallet was next, I had transferred most of my money to the pipboy but I still kept a spare two-hundred in my wallet. Barley contained sadness and anger left me as she pulled my money out and inspected it.

"Is this money?" She asked someone to my left that I could not see.

"Don't care Velv, but it into the bag" a tired female voice answered.

My heart dropped along with the money into the bag. Next she placed both hands on either side of my helmet and moved it left to right, giving me good look at the rest of the inside. Carefully she pulled up to remove it but my chinstrap on the inside stopped her from even moving it even an inch. Curiously she felt around my neck for the obstacle keeping it on. The girl recognized as Velv stopped she found something else "Look at this" She indicated while pulling my dog tags away from me "You think he's a soldier?"

"Probably just a mercenary now"

She held it close to her so she could read it "Cassidy Riley, 023536, AB-, no pref" In order was my last name, first name, service number, blood time and then my religious orientation. "He doesn't look Atlesian, Vacuo?"

"His raggy clothes defiantly fit most Vacuoens" My clothes weren't raggy! Sure they were a bit 'used' but properly maintained!

Finally she released my tags and began working at my helmet again. Persistent little one she was, guess it was now or never. I waited until she was within close proximity and then I-

"Hananananana" Screamed a passenger clad only in a pair of boxers to my right as he charged past the big green armor man and went straight for the cockpit. Well shit.

The others who were previously sitting down immediately got up to retrieve him. The woman yelled out orders to restrain him but it was too late, the once peaceful ride was now a bucking brahmin with a two gallons of whiskey in his blood...I was sixteen, bite me.

The craft when pulled straight up from the nose, sending everyone who wasn't holding on to everything towards me, of course it had to be Goliath. I rolled away, just barely managed getting turned into a Mohave pancake. It wasn't over yet, the ship took a dip to the left sending him at me again. The doors on the sides were open ans it was either jump through one of them and take my chances with ground or stay exactly where I was. I took too long to decide so the decision was made for me.

I've never been hit by a car but at least now I can say I have an idea of what it's like so it's not all bad, this is me trying to think positive. It was only possible to do so for a few seconds before I succumb to crushing pain in my chest and the inability to breath. Urgently in his actions, he pulled himself up on something while the bird settled down and off of me before leaning down to make sure I wasn't dead. I kinda felt bad to be honest for what I was about to do.

With all the strength I could muster I pulled back my head and slammed into his face, nose particular. It didn't break his nose somehow like I was hoping but it did stun him for a few seconds, long enough for me to stand up and move to the other side. Right in front of me, hanging on a handle by its sling was my anti-materiel rifle. Little help it would be with my hands bound. Without a weapon to defend myself there was little I could for the giant coming at me. When his hands grazed my shoulder's I braced my back against the wall and planted my feat on his chest.

I would had a better chance of kicking down a brick wall. While I futilely tried to hold this thing back the bunny girl from earlier was knocked to the back by some unseen force.

"Yatsuhashi! Get up here! This guys strong!" ordered their leader. That little guy who ran up there earlier didn't look like it. Yatsuhashi as she called him shared a glance with girl, she nodded and he backed off me. My butt hit the ground pretty hard jarring my tail bone.

She was fast I had to give her that, before I could attempt to resist she threw me on my stomach and planted a knee on my back; holding me down with surprising strength. However; she was dealing with a veteran ranger. I rocked my wait from side to side before throwing myself to the right successfully rolling from underneath her. Taking everything I had on me might have been a blessing in disguise, if not I would have been in the same boat as a turtle on his back. Flipping up onto may feet I got into the best fighting stance I could.

I threw a high kick to the side of her head, she blocked it effortlessly with one hand. In the same motion I threw one at her ribs before hoping up and doing the same on with my other leg. Each attacked stopped with the simple swat of the hand. Color me impressed, no really. As much as pains me to admit, even with my handicap she was most likely a better cqc fighter. This was proved when I left one of my legs out there too long, she wrapped her arm around it without hesitation while bringing her elbow down on my thigh. A wet snap was heard after. For the love of god bring back the giant! Mr. Miyagi doesn't pull punches!

Again I found myself on the ground when she raised my foot high in the air and took out the other one beneath me. My leg was throbbing like it's sole goal was to bring me as much pain as possible. She flipped me on my stomach again and twisted my as far as it would go behind my back with handcuffs "Stop fighting!" she tried using authoritative voice but failed "Please!" I lost to this? Are you fucking kidding me?

The motion of the ship once again shifted to the side, great here we go again. Sliding across the ground like some sort of human sled for the bunny kid, I raced towards the opened bay where I would plummet to my death, such a fun day were having. My eyes locked on a small bar holding the chairs in place and went to reach for it. With a long drawn out sigh I watched as I slid by it, fucking handcuffs.

If the pain was unbearable before then now it was unlivable as I wrapped my legs around the support. The sudden jerk caused the girl to loose balance and fall, at the same time freeing my hands from her death grip. At times like this I really wished I was the bad guy, then I wouldn't have to put myself through what I was about to do. In her credit she actually looked more surprised then scared when I grabbed ahold of her arm.

So here we were, captive and guard; hanging out the side of a vertibird spinning out of control with at least hmm I'd wager at least three hundred yard drop. I preferred bullet wounds over breaks, a lot of the times you didn't start feeling the pain from in until after your adrenaline wore off. A break was immediate and mind wracking, and I was trying to save the person who was responsible for all of this. Being a good guy sucks. I wouldn't have much longer to worry about it, I could already feel my legs faltering. Yet the girl still didn't look fearful, more curious to be precise. With failing effort I tried to pull her back up but it was useless while my hands were restrained, we weren't on the best of terms but I had no reason to wanna see the kid dead, quite the opposite actually. She was still young, had her whole life ahead of her. My legs finally gave out.

In a way this was my fault. What did I expect to do? Beat them all down and take over the ship? Falling had an odd sense to it, it was like everything you had learned throughout your life was now useless. Your skills with a sixshooter wouldn't save you nor would your ingenious mind. Nope, here all were equal. What bothered me the most was the look she still had, no fear in the face of death. A lil hardass if I do say so myself, either that or she's crazy. I had an idea but at this distance it didn't look like it would help. Might as well try.

I straightened my body so I could drop behind her and brace her against me, if she's lucky then she will be a cripple for the rest of her life. Probably wont make a difference anyway. I'd say I only got a few more seconds before the splat. Too bad, I never got the chance to gamble in New Vegas.

And that's when it got weird, Velv just had to make the last few seconds of my life complicated by switching our roles. Now I was in the front with her in the back. Ah hell no, I refuse to live on after being rescued trying to rescue, that's a tongue twister. Her strength was incredible making it very hard to turn back around. It was too late, if I survived then I would always be know as that ranger who had a little girl save my ass. The impact was...was

Well there wasn't one. I was staring straight up into the air as a bird flew by just as peacefully as can be, the sun was shining brightly, children were laughing and I was alive. When I looked around me I decided I'd rather be dead. I was never going to live this one down yet that's not what had warning bells shooting through my head.

I was being held princess style bridal carry by my 'savior' who looked pretty good for someone who just fell out of the sky. She had landed on her feet like it was nothing.

"Court is now in session!" Announced the judge. It's official, ivied gone crazy.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Bear and the Cog

**AN: Hello everyone! Time for the next chapter of 'With Friends Like These', Right after responses to reviews...there's only one so this wont take long.**

**Quentin3655: What's the point of writing a fanfiction if you aren't allowed to make fun of your own work. I was saddened by the fact that no one left me any flames so I decided to flame my own work to overcome my insecurities. Make sense? Yeah it does.**

/

The room was old but you could hardly tell, the desks and floors were cleaned immaculately leaving not a single spec of dust or age grace its surface. One would expect that I was standing in the prewar university of Harvard given its size and luxury. The classroom I had learned from growing up was a far cry from this; underground with no natural light, rusted metal everything, stale air that made your nostrils dry. Education was a valuable asset in these times of strife, these kids should make good to be extremely grateful for the institution that runs this place.

They had put me here a little short of two hours ago under the pretense of protecting public safety, it was clear that despite that they were telling me it was my choice force would be used if deemed necessary to ensure my compliance. At least they had the common courtesy to make it like it was my decision to follow them, that spoke volumes about this community as men like the Legion wouldn't ask at all and to a certain extent neither would the NCR. I used this time to make use of some of the books in the room, I skimmed through them the best I could.

Most believed that the New California Republic was the wastelands last hope for a free civilization but they failed to see its true colors, minus slavery they weren't much better them the Legion. They both took what they wanted and eradicated anyone who opposed their ideas though it can me said the NCR is defiantly the morally better one, even the Brotherhood, despite our misgivings, understood that much. That's why we chose to side with the NCR rather then those barbarians.

Thanks to the sound amplifying sensors in my helmet I could hear the footsteps before they even reached the door, two sets. They stopped before they entered to discuss the situation with the professors that escorted me here. The one they called Ozpin most definitely held a sort of supremacy over the others judging by the way they spoke to him and visa versa. "Glynda had no other choice then to subdue the one clothed in red, rather forcefully I'm afraid"

"And what of his partner," Asked the heavier set man.

A short silence followed after, I worried that they had somehow caught on to my snooping until he continued."I don't believe they were of any allegiance, before we intervened he was being held at blade point. It seemed to me that they only formed a temporary truce to oppose us, such a thing may be ordinary to them as we witnessed the man they called legate be killed by one of his own." he explained "As for their status, team CFVY have taken care of the issue. They are bringing him to Beacon as we speak"

The green haired fellow answered him: "You say 'them' like you're branding them as aliens" Again he failed to reply immediately. "Also do you really think it's safe to bring him here?"

Legate and a man dressed red, added on by the willingness to kill one's own comrade. most obviously Legion. So the Legate was dead, that didn't change anything, Ceaser would elect a new one as soon as he learned of the previouses demise. If anything, It would only force the Legion back on the other side of the river momentarily. "I think it would be best not make any assumptions until we speak with the man inside and don't worry for the safety of the student's, he'll be placed in one of the confinements we use for grimm."Finally Ozpin replied.

Before green hair could question his superiors orders again he was cut off by a woman "Don't waste your breath, whatever you plan to say to change his mind I have already tried and failed" She didn't sound particularly happy. "I don't wish to prolong this"

"As do I Glynda" He agreed and with that the sound of the door opening greeted the inside of the room. I turned around quickly as if I had been caught totally unaware and not listening to their entire conversation.

Two people walked in, the man who looked to be about in his late thirties was dressed in a smart black suit with matching slacks and a green undershirt. His hair was somewhere in the middle of white and grey, the glasses perched on his nose were oval shaped. He had a rather peculiar looking cane accompanied by a slight limp that to the untrained eye looked real. The woman who seemed to be about the same age was dressed more like a no nonsense teacher, a white button up with a black skirt. Her blonde hair was put up into a bun that accentuated the rest of the look well, she was very beautiful if I did say so myself. Oddly enough though she wore a cape. They stopped a few feet away from me, looking slightly guarded with their expressions. I didn't blame them seeing as they just had dealings with a soldiers of the Legion.

I wasn't a dull man, wouldn't have survived this long if I was. Still it was very hard to wrap my head around what was really happening, I didn't want to see at first. Hell my mind was rebuking the fact as hard as it was mentally capable. However the evidence was clear. Ozpin made to speak but I stopped him with a raised my hand "You have questions. Ones that I would arrogant to even think I could provide you with some small sentiment of understanding."

Instead of trying to explain I would show him. I made my across the classroom to the chalk board where I began drawling a large picture, because it was impossible to drawl a three dimensional figure on a flat surface I was forced to make separate areas. My artsmanship wasn't the best, still legible enough though.

When I was finally done I turned back around to the confused looking duo. I indicated with my hand a poster that was on the side of the board "This is your world correct?" Their confused expressions only worsened.

"'Your world'?" Ozpin repeated what I had just said "You mean our world?"

"No" On top of the poster it was labeled Remnant in bold lettering. It was the first thing I had noticed when they brought me here. Originally I thought it nothing more then a strange piece of art, but then I noticed the names and geographic mapping. I wrote in big letters 'EARTH' across the bottom of my finished sketch "This is my world"

No one spoke or made a sound, the only communication being used came in the form of skeptical looks and raised eyebrows. I could relate to that, wasn't exactly sure I even believed myself. Again though it was the indisputable truth, no matter how much the great war had effected the world this amount of change was unprecedented. Not just the difference in large scale land mass. Grimm. At first glance it could appear to be creatures with alternated genetic code caused by radiation, because of that I almost put that book down in favor of something more informative in order to assimilate everything I could about this new place. Thank god I didn't. As I delved deeper the teachings sounded almost cult like, soulless creatures hell bent on the destruction of mankind, aura which was essentially personnel shielding and the use of a weaponized element called dust.

"That's quite a bold statement" Ozpin was the first to speak, taking a sip from his mug. His tone didn't possess the mocking tone that I was expecting.

"Yes, even more so because I have no way to prove it." My voice droned though my suits mechanical speakers "To be perfectly clear I wouldn't of shared it if I did have proof, that would be saying that I knew how I got here in the first place. That kind of information wouldn't be trusted to even those closest to me." The technology or magic even that brought us here would need to be destroyed, I couldn't let that kind of power to be possessed by anyone. Including me, even if it meant abandoning the Brotherhood.

"World merging would certainly be problematic" He said with a smug grin, playing along with me "I would be much more comfortable discussing this issue with you face to face, could you please remove your armor?"

I didn't miss a beat "Absolutely not. My order is very clear that no such technology is to be allowed to fall in the hands of any and all persons not apart of the Brotherhood. If I at any time feel you are a threat to this doctrine I will self destruct my suit's fusion core to destroy it and myself. I however do not believe that will ever be necessary, I have judged you to be a benevolent group." The blonde woman's face sharpened as I finished.

"You dare threaten us? We have been nothing but hospitable in allowing you to wait in a classroom rather then a jail cell, which in the present state of last seven hours I cant fathom why Ozpin would be so lenient"

"Glynda" Ozpin started but was interrupted.

"Don't. In all my years under you I've never questioned your orders once, but this is borderline psychotic! We have students here, children! Yet you brought an unknown, possibly severely dangerous, man who claims he's from another world right in through our front door! And you're bringing two more, even after the mute one took part in attacking us! How do you expect me to go along with this, you cant hope to justify this!" She finished angrily, unknowingly providing me with information that I can use to replace the blind faith I was asking from them.

"Our guest allowed himself to be taken in for questioning, unlike the other two, Surely if he wanted to harm our students he would of done so with team rwby, away from faculty members. By allowing himself to be detained he placed his trust in that of four young girls who he had never met. I believe this warrants some of our trust as well, does it not?" This didn't seam to appease her in the slightest, instead of carrying on an argument with her superior in front of me Glynda opted to cross her arms and glare at the both of us; silently she let Ozpin continue his 'questioning'.

I cleared my throat to get their attention, when those icy green eyes turned towards me I almost regretted the action, the piercing gaze from the woman who I nearly dwarfed by two feet in my protective power armor still sent chills up my spine. "The one you believe to be mute...is he wearing a dirty trench coat?"

/

"Well" The girl 'Coco' started while looking at me and the crazy loon, both being restrained by members of her team "Let's not do that again, yeah?" After being saved by apparently the female version of superman the craft landed to pick us back up. The boxer clad guy was looking a little more blue and purple then the last time I saw him, most likely what I would of looked like if the Jolly Green Giant would have been my opponent. Not that mine was much better, I had a throbbing leg and a damaged ego to prove that, an ego that in its prime would make even the most devote legionaries blush like little school girls. We both received and extra pair of handcuffs for our ankles for the trouble we caused "So I guess neither one of you has an aura. That's good, makes you much more manageable"

I gave her the middle finger to the best of my abilities, with two people holding me down though it was kinda hard. Still my message got across if her scowl was anything to go by.

"You know if you're going act tough you need to be able to back it up at least a little bit, and watching you fight back here was a pretty sorry sight" She mocked from the other side of the hull. Unable to speak back I simply stared her down the best I could "What's wrong? Can't you speak? I'm sorry if I'm frightening you" This all coming from the woman who's entire team had trouble subduing a half naked handcuffed man, I'm not impressed.

So was this is it? Captured by a group of teenage brats(Yes big tall and green was still considered a teenager, despite the fact that he looked like a super mutant on turbo, kudos to the parents for trying new things). If this place was anything I was use to then I was most likely being taken for questioning, after they got what they needed from me capital punishment would kick in. Whelp, time to start thinking up some awe inspiring last words, because everyone knows only losers and support characters die without saying anything...

FUCK!

I re-doubled my efforts of escape, attempting to swing my weight back and forth in the firm grips of super Bugs Bunny and the one who's tan made him look like an over cooked peach, I can relate to that though maybe not so much after my donning of the prewar riot armor, I'm probably pretty white by now. My efforts didn't look like they were very appreciated, no matter how futile they were, as punishment for further retaliation Coco's hand shot out to grip the broken bone in my leg, instantly white hot burning knives racked my appendage. I grit my teeth and only fought back that much harder not wanting to give in to the woman. In the very far back part of my mind I could hear protesting voices but I didn't care to understand them.

It finally got to the point where I could bear with it no longer and was forced to give up; slumping backwards into the chair giving up, breathing heavily all the while. With a satisfactory smirk she released me "See? Look how much easier it is when you listen?" finished the short haired she-devil, standing up and walking back to the cockpit where the pilots were seated. Bitch.

The vertibird made a sudden lurch before beginning a smooth descent. I couldn't actually see where we were landing at, I assume it was their base of operations in this city but as an NCR citizen looking at this place everything thing looked like a state of the art hideout. With a small hitch I could feel the craft land, immediately I was pulled to my feet or well foot in my case.

"When they open the doors I'm going to use the position of the sun to blind them, after that you go for your gun and blast these motherfuckers!" Crazy 'whispered' to me, drawling weird looks from our captors. I gave him a thumbs up encouragingly, anything to antagonize Coco's day. Look left and right to the ones holding an arm apiece behind my back I noted that I was a full head taller then both of them and that the other prisoner under their custody was smaller then everyone here, yet being secured by the largest person here. It was kinda funny actually, reminded of the old pre-war cartoons of Americans towering over the Chinese, sure it was nothing but propaganda but I enjoyed them growing up.

The doors pushed outward and then slid back automatically, the absence of the sun showed just how long I've been here, too bad for that master escape plan. Jolly Green Giant was the first to hop out with crazy slung over his shoulder, apparently not expecting much from him. As we neared the exit Coco pushed me harshly from behind causing me to hobble awkwardly, would of most likely fell on my face if it wasn't for 'Velv', however I couldn't bring myself to feel thankful in the slightest, being in the girls proximity only made me feel obsolete. I had pretty much reached the end or I was damn close to my full potential, I had training that dated back to American special forces and I had the experience of hundreds of engagements. I guessed it had something to do with the rabbit ears, this girl not only stood at the pentacle of human capabilities, she surpassed it.

Carefully I hopped off the hull of the vertibird taking care not twist my ankle, it would be hard in cowboy boots but far from impossible.

It was some kind of institution was my first thought after seeing the grounds and the kids wearing matching uniforms themselves. I remembered shortly after who brought me here, summarizing that it was a program to train elite soldiers from adolescents. A practice that the Legion was none to shy about. It disgusted me. Sure, growing up in the NCR ever child was taught to shoot in school it was the wasteland dammit. But never did the NCR force anyone into conscription, every citizen was allowed to live as they seen fit. Freedom and democracy. This new found discovery left me feeling sympathetic for Coco, who was no doubt indoctrinated into whatever the fuck they wanted her to believe.

Hushed whispers were drawn out from passing students who gave us an assortment of looks as we were hurried to the right of the main complex, even without the natural light of the sun I could see very clearly in the places the lamp posts did not cover thanks to the built in night vision my helmet possessed. Infrared too if I needed it. My gaze was more often then not returned with looks of fear, being a beacon of hope for the people of the NCR who showered me gifts and thanks it left me slightly unnerved. It would be a lie to say that my presence wasn't slightly unnerving, comes with the territory of acquiring the title, in the end though they knew I fought for them, in their name.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed two girls making straight for our little flock, seemingly unperturbed by the aura we were giving off. They were dressed just like every other girl and boy had seen on the premises, in that black and red getup that was clean enough one wastelander may just decide it was edible. Just with a glance I could learn all I needed to know about them, the blonde was overconfident in abilities, enough so that she was prone to making rash decisions. Strength was her forte, the brute of her team. The other was a little harder to analyze, where her friend was branz and flashy she was brains and self-effacing. the swift silent type. The way they held themselves even over the older students told me that these were two to watch for.

Before I could observe them any further Coco made her way over to them, stopping their progress in our direction. I didn't want anyone to turn my head around to let anyone know what I was looking at and they were far enough behind me now that I couldn't see them from the corner of my eyes. I turned my attention forward where the big guy was leading our little march, anyone that happened to be out this late quickly scurried away from the hulking man. My gaze lowed down his form to the scantly dressed homeless man on his back who was...looking very suave. His stare felt heated on my own, burning through the eyepieces of my helmet. Oh god thi-this is really happening isn't it? As if hearing my unspoken message he let a smug smirk grace his face as if he had already won.

I'll have you know that I am not that kind of Ranger.

His look didn't falter in the slightest, if anything it just became more intense. Piercing the farthest depths of my soul without restraint. No matter how many layers of clothes or armor I was wearing, to him I might as well be completely bare. I turned away from him hoping to escape the intense gaze, it did nothing.

This is getting weird.

I felt a shift on my right side as a presence moved closer to me "Do you know him...?" asked the rabbit eared girl clearly shaken by the looks he was giving me. I felt a little better knowing I wasn't going through this unusual flirting alone, even if she was an enemy. I'm glad I saved you bunny girl...or attempted to save you from a situation that clearly presented absolutely no threat to you. I shook my head to answer her question, something she took quick note on "Can't you talk?" Another negative shake of my head.

"That certainly explains a little" The voice of the first member of their team concluded. So I guess we are all going to get all chummy now. Which reminds me, wasn't I going to kneecap him with a .22?

"Why cant you speak?" Inquired Velv, I turned to her and gave her a 'how the hell do you expect me to explain that' look. Realizing her blunder she blushed and looked away, hearts of steel these warriors have.

"Smooth" Monotoned 'spent to much time in the sun'. I'm killing it with these nicknames today.

After that it was silent for the most part, only idle chatter coming fro the direction Coco had stopped the girls. I started to formulate plans of escape, the only plausible means being to steal one of those virtibird like crafts and hope I could pilot it. From there I would have to find my way back to the states, at that point getting back to the NCR would be child's play. Regardless, I had to make it back. If I die here then the NCR will never know about this place, this ungodly technological place. It would be rough, but if we can handle the enclave; the pentacle of American military technology then this place wouldn't be a problem. What we lacked it tech we made up for with shear fucking tenacity. The big ass army helps too.

Double doors were held open for us as we finally entered the actual premises. Holy damn was it clean. The cleaning staff should be given medals and made heroes, id have to be sure to get their secret for removing nuclear fallout off hard wood floors, or in this case what looked like marble. The area we brought into was more vast then any building I had ever been in my life, from what I could see this room was meant for holding if the huge cages were anything to go by. Oddly enough, some had dark covers over them, concealing what was in side. I caught what I thought looked like a fellow ranger in one through one of the tiny observations slits but quickly brushed that off as being for the most part impossible.

The big guy went left to a cage next to the wall where as I was continued to be led forward, I only saw one empty that didn't have a covering over it. Guess that's going to be my new home home...for about five minutes that it takes me to pick the lock.

Coco made a show pulling the gate open along with a wave of her hand, I change my mind. I don't feel sorry for her. I only wish I would get to see the look on her face when she brings her superiors to an empty cage. Speaking of which, are you telling me that they don't have one prison cell in this entire damn city, cages are for animals. Not badass veteran rangers.

Instead of roughly throwing me in like I expected them to, they walked me into the cramped space and even help me slide down onto the ground. The mutant even informed me that a doctor would be by shortly too. Not that I would be here when he or she got here, I only hoped that they would neglect to station but a few guards outside. The gate was slammed shut and locked, leaving me in almost complete darkness.

I listened for the footsteps until they were but a distant echo, I sprang into motion. Activating the night vision in my helmet I took a good look around me to take the compartment I was being held in. Quickly I realized that picking the lock would be impossible, the cage was completely sealed off. There was absolutely no way to get to the it from the inside. Plan B then.

Pulling up 'my' pipboy I scrolled through the aid section to find a stimpak, it didn't take long and soon I had one in my hand. A burning sensation came from my leg after I stabbed it into the area of affection, the bone literally putting itself back together. My finger dug into my leg as I waited out the pain, after a few moments I was awarded with a completely healed leg; pain free. God I love stimpaks. With that taken care of I switched over to the weapons tab, I contemplated equipping myself with a mini gun for shits and giggles. Just imagining the look on their faces when they came in to see me with not only a gun they missed during their little pat down but a damn huge ass heavy machine gun. I settled for a silenced 9mm.

Now we play the waiting game.

/

**That be all for now my peeps...I hate that word so I'm never using it again, well back to what I was saying: Next chapter shouldn't be delayed by much, I estimate it'll be done around the 28th. For you all that are still here I will see you then!**


End file.
